Michael Liebel, Jr.

Michael Liebel, Jr.
File:Michael Liebel Jr. of Penn.jpg
30th Mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania
In office 1906–1911
Preceded by	Robert J. Saltsman
Succeeded by	William J. Stern
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 25th district
In office March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1917
Preceded by	Milton W. Shreve
Succeeded by	Henry A. Clark
Personal details
Born	(1870-12-12)December 12, 1870 Erie, Pennsylvania
Died	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Canisius College

Michael Liebel, Jr. (December 12, 1870 – August 8, 1927) was the Mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania, from 1906-1911, and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania, from 1915-1917.

Early Life

Liebel was born December 12, 1870 in Erie, Pennsylvania, and is the son of Michael and Clara (Uhr) Liebel. His father, Michael Liebel Sr. was born June 17, 1843 in Germany and was the son of John and Barbara (Hammer) Liebel, who also lived in Erie, Pennsylvania. Liebel Sr. was 14 years old when his parents came to Erie, Pennsylvania from Germany. He served an apprenticeship at the shoemaking trade and in 1861, he started his own boot and shoe business which he continued for five years. He invested in local realty with his brother Reinhard Liebel, which eventually became very extensive. Liebel Sr. died in May of 1906. Michael and Clara Liebel had three sons: Eugene Liebel, who died in 1923, Michael Liebel, Jr., and Frederick W. Liebel, who died in 1896.

Liebel was educated in the public and parochial schools of Erie and attended college in Buffalo, New York at Canisius College graduating in 1887.

Career

After graduating from college, Liebel was an accountant in the Buffalo office of the Nickel Plate Railroad for five years. He then returned to Erie, where he was employed in the office of Jackson Koehler, at that time conducting one of the leading breweries of this section of the state, for another five years. In 1898, he organized the Cascade Brewing Company, and served as Corporate Secretary and Treasurer until 1890 when it was consolidated with the Erie Brewing Company, which operated until prohibition.

In the election of Feb. 7, 1907, he was elected to the mayoralty for a full term. In 1916 Mr. Liebel was elected to Congress from the 25th district and there served on the Naval Committee in the 64th Congress.

A member of the Democratic party, Liebel served as Mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania from 1906 to 1911. His first term started in September, 1906, when he received the appointment to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Mayor Robert J. Saltsman. In the subsequent election of 1907, he was chosen by the popular vote to fill the remainder of the unexpired term until April 1, 1908. Liebel remained in office as Mayor until 1911, at which point he organized and became President of the Vulcan Rubber Company, manufacturers of tires, tubes and hard rubber accessories.

Liebel was the Democratic representative of the 25th District of Pennsylvania to the Sixty-fourth Congress from 1915 to 1917. He was not a candidate for re-nomination and after retiring from political office, again resumed his former business activities as president of the Vulcan Rubber Company, as well as President of the Erie Reduction Company, an Erie-based fertilizer manufacturer, with offices in Sandusky, Ohio.

He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, and 1924.

Personal life and death

File:Michael Liebel House.jpg

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Liebel was a lifelong member of the Catholic Church and belonged to the Elks, Eagles and Moose lodges. He was described as "an enterprising and progressive business man" who was "widely known." Liebel died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1927, and is interred was at Trinity Cemetery in Erie.

Liebel lived in a home built by his father in 1882 known as the "Michael Liebel House," at 139 West 21st Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. The mansion is a 8,198 sq. ft. Colonial Revival, centered on a large lot and constructed of buff colored brick. It features a massive porch with Corinthian columns and a bracketed dentiled cornice. Three pedimented dormers adorn the roof which is accented with a cornice matching that of the porch roof. The "Michael Liebel House" is part of the West 21st Street Historic District that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

The home was used as the "Merle E. Wood Funeral Home" until 1992. Currently, the "Village at Luther Square," a domestic care provider, owns the building and uses is as a domestic care home that houses several elderly Erieites. VALS purportedly invested over $300,000 in refurbishing this building for its current use.

See also

• List of mayors of Erie, Pennsylvania
• List of representatives from Pennsylvania's 25th congressional district

Sources

• Liebel, Michael, Jr. at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The Political Graveyard

Political offices
Preceded by Robert J. Saltsman	Mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania 1906–1911	Succeeded by Bernard Cochran

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Milton W. Shreve	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 25th congressional district 1915–1917	Succeeded by Henry A. Clark